On the solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe, the universal Church lifts its gaze to the Lord who reigns not with an earthly scepter of power, but with the cross as his diadem and love as the supreme law. This feast, instituted by Pius XI in 1925 to affirm Christ’s sovereignty over nations in times of totalitarianism, acquires a prophetic resonance in 2025. It coincides with the Jubilee Year dedicated to Christ, hope of the peoples, and the promulgation of the Apostolic Letter In Unitate Fidei by Leo XIV, a document commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325).
In this letter, the Pontiff not only evokes the Nicene faith as a bulwark against heresies, but also challenges a Church tempted by doctrinal lukewarmness. It is an urgent call to rediscover the unity of faith in a world where confusion reigns and false irenisms dilute the Gospel into an insipid relativism that turns faith into a comfortable refuge of lukewarmness.
The letter, dated precisely on November 23, is inscribed in the heart of the liturgy of Christ the King. Leo XIV reminds us that Jesus Christ, «only Son of God, consubstantial with the Father,» is the center of our profession of faith, as defined by Nicaea against Arianism that reduced the Word to a mere prophet. «Being God, he became man to divinize us,» the Pope quotes St. Athanasius, underscoring the Incarnation as the revelation of a God who is near, not distant.
In this Holy Year, Christ the King presents himself as living hope: «Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.» It is a demanding reign that challenges the marginalized of globalized society—poor, migrants, victims of wars—and denounces Christian indifference as a betrayal of the Gospel. The feast, thus, is not mere commemoration, but living catechesis: Christ is not a symbolic king, but the Judge who separates the wheat from the chaff, reminding us that his kingdom «is not of this world,» yet transforms this world with justice and mercy.
However, In Unitate Fidei transcends the celebration to offer a sharp critique of the current confusion about the meaning of faith. Leo XIV lucidly diagnoses the «loss of meaning of God in modern life,» largely attributed to Christians themselves who, with worldly lifestyles, hide the merciful face of the Father. «What does God mean to me? Is he the only Lord of life, or are there more important idols?» the Pope asks, inviting an examination of conscience that strips bare false gods: money, power, fleeting pleasure.
In a context of rampant secularism, where faith is reduced to subjective feeling or decaffeinated social activism, this letter denounces the exploitation of creation—our «common home»—and the abuses committed in the name of a vengeful God, instead of a living and liberating one. The confusion is not only external: it infiltrates the veins of the Church, where the «sensus fidei» of the People of God falls asleep before eternal truths diluted in passing fashions.
Here lies the sharpest critique: false ecumenical irenisms. Leo XIV promotes an ecumenism «oriented toward the future,» inspired by Vatican II and Ut Unum Sint, that unites Christians in the Nicene Creed as a common profession: «Truly, what unites us is much more than what divides us!».
The martyrs of all traditions, witnesses of faith in blood, are the authentic bond of unity. But he warns against superficial irenism that sacrifices truth for illusory peace. At Nicaea, the Church did not seek lukewarm consensuses, but defended the divinity of Christ against heresies that half-humanized him. Today, in ecumenical dialogues that prioritize «dialogue for dialogue’s sake,» we run the risk of syncretism that ignores real doctrinal divisions—Eucharist, ministry, Mariology—and reduces unity to symbolic gestures.
This false irenism, disguised as charity, fosters a «unity in diversity» that blurs contours, as if the Trinity were a collage of relativism instead of a coherent mystery of love. Leo XIV calls for patience, listening, and spiritual conversion, but anchored in common prayer to the Holy Spirit, not in compromises that betray the deposit of faith.
On this feast of Christ the King, In Unitate Fidei summons us to a courageous ecumenism: reconciliation that enriches mutual gifts without renouncing truth. «Come, Holy Spirit, with your fire of grace, to rekindle our faith,» the Pope implores. In the face of a world divided by hatreds and inequalities, the Church must witness a kingdom where faith is not confused fog, but clear light that illuminates nations. May this Jubilee impel us to safeguard the Creed as a two-edged sword: cutting down idols and uniting hearts in the one saving truth, the only antidote against ecclesial confusion, Christ the King of the Universe.